Oblivious
by DealingDearie
Summary: After returning to the Enchanted Forest, Belle finds her way back to the place she called home, the place where an all-too-human imp once lived, and makes a decision.


_**A/N: Assuming that they all have fake memories now, I was thinking about this yesterday and I got super sad so I wanted to write about it.** **;D**_

Belle had found her way back after departing from the Charmings and their band of friends, eager to return to the castle in which she'd fallen deeply and irreversibly in love, and she ran through the open front doors with enthusiasm, holding up her golden skirts as the click of her heels echoed throughout the wide foyer.

She stopped then and caught her breath, brilliant blue eyes round with surprise. The place was in shambles, furniture strewn about and torn and shredded, dust so heavy in the air that it could nearly be touched. It looked abandoned, and her heart leapt in her throat as she carefully snuck through the debris to make her way to the room where she'd kissed Rumplestiltskin, and she pushed the large double doors open with all of her strength, his name resting on her lips like some familiar thing, something dearly and closely cherished.

"Rum-"

The words died on her tongue and she let her arms fall to her side, brown hair tumbling in curls upon her bare shoulders, her dress suddenly too tight around her body as she took in the sight before her. The castle was destroyed, like it hadn't been used in decades, like it had been through hell and back and had been torn from corner to corner with complete malice. She blinked in surprise and narrowed her eyes, searching through the memories that were still muddled.

She couldn't remember why they were so foggy to her, so closed off and vague, and she swallowed, already desiring fresh air from the thick layer of dust that clung to every crevice, that hung in the air and stayed there like a devoted friend.

Patiently, she waited, and the thought came to her.

_Yes. _He was away, gone on another trip to god-knows-where to make a deal with some desperately unlucky soul. He left, or so she'd heard after her escape from Regina's castle and during her travels back to the Dark One, and he'd be back soon.

_That was it_. He'd be back, and thieves had stolen into the castle and robbed it clean of both its value and its dignity in his absence, and Belle huffed in anger.

_The nerve of them, doing such a thing_. That explained why the rooms were in such disrepair, and she put a hand to her hip in thought.

She stood there for minutes, chewing her bottom lip absently as the dust curled about her feet from the lack of movement, and finally she found a broom, smiling at its near broken handle. She wanted the castle to be spotless when he returned, and if she had to clean every single inch of it, then so be it. Only the best for him; he deserved it, after all. She'd realized so much during her imprisonment, so much about herself and Rumple and what it was that she truly wanted-_him_.

She wanted him, wanted him so much that it hurt to be apart from him, but she forced a small smile and commenced to sweeping the carpet free of any glass shards and dust, intending to start small and go from there. She had plenty of time-plenty of time to clean, plenty of time to herself, plenty of time to practice what she'd say to him when he returned, plenty of time to plan out how long and in what way she'd kiss him, plenty of time to think about him and his voice and his eyes and his laugh and everything he'd ever done.

Belle had all the time in the world, and her smile widened when she glanced up at those familiar double doors (bent at the edges and cracked in other places and chipped at the front), imagining that she could see his impish form gallivanting through the entrance just like nothing could touch him, his eyes only for her, his smile warm with relief and bright with that rare happiness he was always so reluctant to show, that human side of him that she desired more than anything, and her heart pounded in her chest. She'd wait for him, for as long as it took, and she'd welcome him back home with open arms, her fingers eager to fit in his palm as they pressed against the damaged broom handle, her heart eager to finally be entwined with his, and so Belle swept.

**Please R&R! Feedback of any kind is always appreciated! ;)**

**That episode KILLED ME. OH MY GOD RUMBELLE. And no one comforted her... -_- (I'm in denial. Rumple can't be dead, that would be the worst move ever that the show could make. I have no idea how he's going to come back, though. It'll be a huge, but very welcome, surprise.)**

**All rights go to their respectful owners. **


End file.
